The festival's integration of music outside of hip-hop makes it even more interesting when considering who to check out for the first time. Baltimore's hardcore-punk quartet Turnstile is a glaring outlier with a massive core following, as is England's alternative-pop soloist PinkPantheress. Here are eight other names to look out for in a new-look Rolling Loud lineup.
Fousheé
Fousheé is one of Rolling Loud's shiny new wild cards, making her debut this year. Guitar-based balladry is at the core of her work, but she manages to stay secure, playful, and chameleonic no matter the sonic backdrop. Within her catalogue is a spectrum of fluorescent, wistful sentimentality (see "Candy Grapes" featuring Steve Lacy) and manic vanity (see "Simmer Down"). The starkly differing phases of Softcore, her latest album, can be treated as a taste test for different styles, ranging from punk to hyperpop to whatever the hell felt right in the moment for Fousheé.Highway
Seattle is not known for pushing out hip-hop talent, but rapper Highway proves he's cut from a different cloth. He's quietly released a steady stream of woozy, neatly manicured trap singles and projects since the turn of the decade, but the 2022 EP Livin Like That solidified his feel for unconventional earworms. There's "We Can Go," a quintessential trap hit, but also "By Myself" featuring Destroy Lonely, a euphoric blend of melancholy and egotism with droning synths and distorted vocal harmonies. Highway's latest full-length, Monochrome, expands on this sound with intriguing R&B overtones and major crossover appeal for the future.Luh Tyler
Seventeen-year-old Tallahassee emcee Luh Tyler is poised to grow up before our very eyes. Last fall, he popped off with a spiritual sequel to Veeze's "Law & Order" with his own track interpolating the classic TV show's theme song. Today, he's signed to Atlantic Records with a catalogue chock-full of icy weed raps and smug punchlines that could only come from a mouth full of gold. The Southern twang to his youthful cadence is the key to his novelty. Between bouncy tracks with Florida hitters like Loe Shimmy and Trapland Pat, or industry-grade collabs with Lil Uzi Vert and BabyTron, Luh Tyler is here to stay.Sexyy Red
If there's one thing you get out of this article, make it this: Sexyy Red is must-see TV. Disregard everything you'd normally expect from a "real" emcee when she struts out on stage. This is where metaphors, double entendres, and wordplay come to die. Instead, the budding St. Louis renegade is a pure ball of fire who thrives off of blunt delivery and brutal honesty. Yes, you'll be hearing about the color of her bootyhole with exclamation points because this is how she has fun. And it's working — especially with Tay Keith on production.TiaCorine
TiaCorine is North Carolina's very own jack-of-all-trades. Just listen to her latest project, I Can't Wait. She can channel choppy Memphis flows over keys sprinkled in pixie dust for "Freaky T" or Auto-Tune croon over atmospheric synth pads with UnoTheActivist on "Beamie." Everything she seems to touch has an air of genuine excitement and purity, but she can spit with the best of 'em when she's in the booth sounding pissed off (see "Rocket"). It's hard to picture many other newcomers matching her energy.Tony Shhnow
Underground rap in Atlanta is never not in a great place. Tony Shhnow, 27, raps with perpetual ease over a suave instrumental palette akin to cool jazz lounges and luxury spa resorts (see "Summer Off Relaxxx"). Picture him in the studio with cucumber slices over his eyes and a blunt in his mouth, and the music will make even more sense. As a pioneer for the plugg subgenre that's swallowed SoundCloud algorithms whole, tracks like "Chalk" apply the formula of heartfelt blips and chimes behind money-hungry lyricism.Veeze
If you've been on any corner of rap Twitter in the past month, you've probably seen some posts singing Veeze's praises, like his latest project, Ganger, is the next best thing to Michael Jackson's Thriller. The 29-year-old Detroit rapper pulls hilariously witty punchlines out of his hat like a magician with a Percocet prescription. His unwavering authenticity reveals itself in several forms: his slurred rasp behind the mic, his tendency to only collab with his homies, and his audacity to unsheathe bars like "My mama think she made me great/I think it's the drugs" on "Boat Interlude" with Lil Yachty.Wizz Havinn
There must be something in the water in North Florida. Tallahassee native Wizz Havinn makes real bag chaser music: the type of soundtrack you bump on your 9-to-5 commute so you feel like a Fortune 500 CEO instead. On the surface, there's composure in his chilled delivery, but through first-person recollections of plug talk and street antics, Wizz's primal sense of urgency bleeds through. With heaters like "Not Worthy" and "Mode," his debut full-length, Mr. Too Sticky, maintains the Sunshine State's affinity for making gold out of gunk and grime.Rolling Loud. 4 p.m. Friday, July 21, through Sunday, July 23, at Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Shula Dr., Miami Gardens; rollingloud.com. Tickets cost $199 to $1,049 via rollingloud.frontgatetickets.com.
